No map to post today, as no cycling was done. Just three new pictures in the photostream. Laundry is all done and dry. The bike has had its drivetrain (chain, gears, etc.) cleaned and is now running beautifully again. Some items have been picked out for leaving behind (and picking up from Stephen and Ivana in England) so as to lighten the load. The route has been planned for the next five days and problem areas identified. Accommodation is booked for the next three nights. Wonderful meals have been eaten and the batteries are recharged. And the Pyrenees are starting to beckon.
Just one interesting thought for you and a couple of curiosities. The interesting thought that I had while on the way here yesterday was that our perspectives on distance are much more affected than we like to think. That may seem obvious, and not at all profound, but let me explain what brought it on. There I was, chugging along into Bellac, feeling very far from home after three weeks of riding pretty much every day, when I was passed in the car by Stephen and Ivana, who had only set off from Northampton the previous lunchtime and taken a 'slow' overnight ferry. Yet to them it feels like just 'popping over' to Bellac (even if it is quite a tiring hop). If that's the contrast between travelling here by car and by bike, what must it have been like for the first pilgrims on foot? After all, I may be far from home, but I have plenty of connections. I'm hardly what you would call cut off.
Anyway, there are lots of curiosities around here and I've included photos of a few of them. One of them was already in yesterday's blog - the 'Attention au chat' sign (mind the cat). Others include the fact that nearly all the streets here in Bellac have two names. For example, this one is Rue Ledru-Rollin, but everybody knows it as Rue de l'eglise. In most cases, both names are on the signs. Another is similar - in one street here, each house has two numbers (e.g. 20 and 21) because they were renumbered at some point, presumably. I don't have pictures of those yet, but will try to remember tomorrow before leaving. Still out and about, just a short distance from here across the square from the church is a street where an alley runs off to the left called Passage Notre Dame, and on the corner of the house opposite is a statue of the Virgin Mary to match. Just near it is a cross set in the wall of the same house and a statuette. Just as interesting, in the food stakes, there is a special local bread which has what you can only call 'horns' at both ends - I will have to photograph breakfast for you to see that. Finally, at the bar-restaurant where we had lunch today (starting with the best, roughest pate you ever tasted), the interior was full of stuffed animals and the exterior covered with pottery animals.
Today has been very peaceful. Stephen and Ivana have achieved a lot in the garden, I have done what I needed to do, and we have had some good time together. I shall be sorry to leave, and I hope to be back before too long. This is a special place, and they have made a special home here.
Till later, then.
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